Tonight, I went to a tactical shooting event where the contrived scenario was you in a bedroom after you hear a noise and when the instructor yells threat, you shoot the target he designates. Totally open ended and challenging. A lot more than what I'm describing here.

Anyway, the last part of the shoot, they shut the lights out on me. So, I whipped out my trusty Nightcore light and hit the button and it promptly turned on into low mode instead of the eye melting 1300 lumen turbo mode, which is where it's usually set to. To make matters worse, the adrenaline was pumping and I couldn't find the button again to make it bright. Total embarrassing epic gear failure, but useful because now I can fix it instead of being dead like if this had been real.

So here's what I'd like...

1. Reasonably small to medium size. The current light is a Nitecore M10v2 and it fits into my pocket.

2. Preferably a 21700 battery, but an 18650 would be ok.

3. Tail switch that clicks on and off.

4. You can lock the mode so it never changes. I try to keep all of my lights set to turbo mode, because if I had to use them, they need to actually blind the person that's getting lit up instead of making them laugh.

5. $200 or less.

Given these specs, does anyone have a good suggestion for a light?

Klarus E1

SureFire Fury Intellibeam 1500 Lumen Tactical Flashlight (Fury-IB-DF)

https://www.amazon.com/SureFir...nction/dp/B07NJCWLYX

https://www.surefire.com/produ...tellibeam-dual-fuel/

Submitted for your consideration.
Although I don’t own one my lust for it is palpable. Currently listed for one ninety-nine on Amazon. Made in the good old U S of A.

Why not mount a light to the gun?

https://www.streamlight.com/pr...etail/index/tlr-1-hl

https://www.surefire.com/produ...hts/xsc-weaponlight/

^ if you want to go smaller.


My duty gun, G-21 and my EDC/nightstand gun, G-19 both have lights on them. Why? Because I don't know what time the next shootout I'm going to be is. Don't really know where either.
But I'd like to be prepared.

Think about it...
Seriously, think about the class you just took. Then think about if the situation would have changed for the better, odds stacked more in your favor if you had a weapon mounted light?
What about an extra magazine close by / on your person.

I'm not saying that a weapon mounted light is the "be all - end all" of stuff when I comes to guns. But the damn things do change shit in your favor just enough to give them some thought. At the least for home defense, if not EDC...

Just something to think about.

If not, Surefire and Streamlight have products that fit what you're looking for.

Fenix TK11.

It has a rotating lockout switch that locks the light into tactical mode--Max bright or strobe only. Unlock to access the other brightness settings.

Fully exposed momentary on, forward clicky tailcap.

I carry a Surefire G2X MV.

800 lumens, and 15 lumens. I use the low setting for almost everything, but the high setting is occasionally useful, and I have used it to blind an assailant.

Haha! Great story, and good lesson.

I bought their P20i, MH12s and TM9k, and the number of modes is silly. Who spends ~$100 - $150 on a flashlight and doesn't want a solar flare to spew from the end upon activation? Having the ability to come out of the gate on Turbo, or at least High, with a turbo press and hold, would be great.

Surefire DFT, not the Intellibeam version.

I just finished a nighttime CCW class where the DFT and Intellibeam were used and discussed.

Intellibeam is great in theory but if you get bounceback from a white wall or other material the light starts to dim to adapt. Not good when you want just light and not a light that's trying to think for you. It is a good light but like a strobe, anything that takes away or changes your picture is taking away an uninterrupted input of critical info from you.

You want the DFT that just goes on or off and do use the 18650 rechargeable battery that comes with it and buy a spare that will be useful. Surefire has this battery figured out and the Streamlight version isn't as good in this application or even very close.

1,500 lumens makes it like a car headlight using the rechargeable and around 1,100 with regular 123 batteries.

You can likely find it on sale for $170ish with $199 as the MSRP.

Not sure if these are too big?

I'm all about keeping this stuff simple in the event of a stressful situation. 2 of these are older on/off Surefire P6's (find on Ebay), Malkoff heads, McClicky switches, Thyrm rings. Surefire plastic G2, Malkoff head. Malkoff MD2 "frankenstein" with a high/low ring, Surefire end cap, McClicky switch. The high/low ring works by twisting the head. This is my night stand light. Head always left twisted to high. It's a clever design in that if fails will fail to high. Changed the resistor value for a fire fly low output for those midnight runs to the head! Have the same Surefire 6P's in all our vehicles with Malkoff's lowest lumen heads for run time. Batteries 16650's in the house Surefires, 18650 Malkoff, CR123's with spares in the vehicles. Any of this interest you, I'll post links.

Weapon lights. Surefire X300U and just recently picked up a Modlite PLHV2/Mod Button lite on a Black Friday special. Jury is out if I'll keep it. Crazy bright for inside my very familiar home.

My bedroom lite is the Fenix E30R. 1,600 lumens and quick and easy to get to the strobe setting. Just hold the switch down for a couple of seconds and you're at strobe. It's not a rear button but it's easy to turn on.

https://www.fenix-store.com/fe...able-edc-flashlight/

Jim

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, this was one of the most unexpected lessons learned that I've had in a long time.

I am strongly considering a weapon mounted light. I have kids though and anything that gets lit up has the weapon pointed at them. Having a regular light also means I can pull out the light without pulling the gun. This is probably a situation of "why not both?"

The “why not both” wins the day. WML come with a challenge to use them safely and to not have them become a problem of their own. A second handheld for initial use and if need be can be tossed as you transition to the WML as threat becomes apparent isn’t the worst idea. Pointing your WML at your kids is the worst idea.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Fenix TK11.

It has a rotating lockout switch that locks the light into tactical mode--Max bright or strobe only. Unlock to access the other brightness settings.

Fully exposed momentary on, forward clicky tailcap.

This actually sounds like exactly what I want and it's not $200.

I like, and EDC a Fenix PD35 Tac left on 1000 lumen. Gets used quite often actually, been pocket carrying a flashlight for ten years or more, I consider it an essential piece of carry gear, much like a pocket knife.

While 1000+ lumen tax-lights are all the rage, a light making a modest 300-500 otf (out the front, or actual down range lumens) is perfectly adequate and possibly even preferable. I guarantee that a perps eyes won’t be able to discern a difference if you hit them in the eyes with either.

For me, the most important function for a tac-light not attached to a gun is a momentary switch that is on the same brightness mode every time it is pressed. No accidental mode changes, true mode memory. My Fenix 300 or so lumen PD32 will blind you instantly and effectively without back-blinding me, especially if you’re going from near dark to lit up.

For the best of both worlds,consider a light like the updated 2016 PD32 that increases max output and still let’s you keep the brightness where you want it until you decide to change it. The side switch let’s you set it down to 400 lumens and memory lock it there unless you want the 900 lumen max. You can choose between 18650 and CR123 batteries, and at the price point, not burn a hole in your wallet.

https://www.amazon.com/PD32-20...dExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

quote:

Originally posted by PrinceAliFabulousHe:
Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, this was one of the most unexpected lessons learned that I've had in a long time.

I am strongly considering a weapon mounted light. I have kids though and anything that gets lit up has the weapon pointed at them. Having a regular light also means I can pull out the light without pulling the gun. This is probably a situation of "why not both?"

Absolutely a situation of having both is better than one or the other.

A stream light TLR-1 or TLR-7 is a good light for the money.

quote:

Originally posted by PrinceAliFabulousHe:

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Fenix TK11.

It has a rotating lockout switch that locks the light into tactical mode--Max bright or strobe only. Unlock to access the other brightness settings.

Fully exposed momentary on, forward clicky tailcap.

This actually sounds like exactly what I want and it's not $200.

If someone had to identify one of my better skills, it would have to be spending other people's money

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
If someone had to identify one of my better skills, it would have to be spending other people's money

That's a good skill to have.

Huge Fenix fan. The PD32 or the PD35 are long time favorites of mine.

Recently bought the PD36R, I find this to be the uppermost size for an EDC. I am 6"1" and 215lbs.

I also just bought the E35 V3.0, which is now my EDC. However, it does not have a tail cap activation, which would make this my perfect EDC, for me, as it is shorter than the PD36R. With the 20% discount, the E35 V3.0 was $52.00 delivered.

The PD36R and E35 V3.0 both use the 21700 cell. The PD32 and PD35 use the 18650 cell.